Grover Norquist’s new trilogy: golf, cocaine and ethanol

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. has been pushing hard for a Senate vote to end a $5 billion tax credit for ethanol. To win this Dr. Coburn — he is an ob/gyn — will have to contend with Senate Democratic big Harry Reid, farm-state Republicans and, of course, Grover Norquist.

Bloomberg

Grover Norquist, ethanol’s new best friend

It was Norquist, by the way, who told the Washington Post’s Ezra Klein that it is a waste of time for D.C. Repubs to negotiate with Democrats. Quoth Norquist, “I think golf and cocaine would (be) more constructive ways to spend one’s free time than negotiating with Democrats on spending restraint.”

The feud between Cobrun and Norquist is heating up. This week Coburn and Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform exchanged letters. ATR essentially hit Coburn for trying to raise taxes, by ending the subsidy. Essentially, ATR argues:

“the ethanol tax credit is not a spending program, despite your repeated attempts to claim that it is. According to the Joint Tax Committee (JCX-54-10), your amendment would increase taxes by $4.869 billion over the next two years. Repealing the ethanol credit is the right thing to do, but other taxes must be reduced in the same legislation by at least this much to prevent a net tax increase.”

Coburn responded by noting that Norquist made the same demands to protect a $246 million tax earmark for Hollywood movie producers. And:

“By opposing my amendment you are defending wasteful spending and a de facto tax increase on every American.”

Now it’s a scary day when anti-tax groups sound like Congressional appropriators, who look at funds that add to the deficit as not really spending. Norquist and company say they oppose the ethanol tax credit, but they act to the contrary. They have to realize that they simply are making it harder to cut corporate welfare and federal spending — and apparently they don’t care.